Crime Is The Violation Of Societal Rules Of Behavior Essay

According to Sigel (2012), crime is the violation of societal rules of behaviour as interpreted and expressed by a criminal legal code, created by people who hold social and political power. Any violation of these rules by an individual may subject themselves to sanctions by the state authority, social stigma and the loss of status. Crime may be broken down into three types, property crimes, offenses against the person and statutory offenses. A status offense is an illegal act committed by a juvenile or juveniles, who are minors. A status offence is an act committed by a juvenile whose actions are not in line with the law or the area in which it was committed as if an adult committed it. There are different types of status offences, which can vary, depending on where it is committed. The most common ones though are truancy, running away, being beyond the control of parents or guardians, violating curfew, or possession and usage of alcohol or tobacco, Michon (2016). From these common offenses, it is clear to see that this can be an issue in the Caribbean society. In order to find better means by which to reduce status offenses in the Caribbean, then by studying the relevant theories associated with them would help to explain their origins. In the Jamaican society, more specifically, teenage high school students, easily stressed, bullied, may have suicidal tendencies and influenced by their peers – which can lead to smoking and drinking alcohol Budd (2011). Based on a surveyShow MoreRelatedDeviance Is Not A Quality Of The Act1048 Words   |  5 PagesHoward Becker wrote that deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sometimes to an offender . The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied; deviant behavior is people so label (Winfree and Abadinsky, p. 227, 2010). 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